SHELTERBuilding a Future for Distributors and Dealers
of Building Products

Volume 44, Issue 7
September 2005

Experience N'awlinsGet
a Sneak Peak of What This Year's
AMD Convention Has to Offer

They say jazz was born in New Orleans (N’awlins as the locals pronounce it) one brassy day in the 1890s when Buddy Bolden put his cornet to his lips and blew a few hot notes and a cool tune. Just like that, he’d invented an American original and a world favorite.

Jazz mixes African and Creole rhythms with African American and European styles. The Irish, Germans and Italians contributed the brass bands.
So why not visit where jazz was born and attend the Association of Millwork Distributors’ 42nd Annual Convention October 6-11, 2005, in New Orleans?

GENERAL INFORMATIONThe New Orleans Marriott and the Sheraton New Orleans, located in the heart of the city, have been selected as the official headquarter hotels for the AMD Convention. Just steps away from either hotel, you will find all the sights, sounds and flavors of the world famous French Quarter.

Directions to both hotels from the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport:

Take I-10 East to the Poydras Exit to turn left on Camp St.; turn left on Canal St.
Please visit www.amdweb.com for room prices, layouts, amenities and other information.

Airport Shuttle
Airport Shuttle is the official ground transportation for the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Service is available 24 hours a day or until the last flight arrives into the airport. The shuttle departs every 15 minutes to the New Orleans Marriott and Sheraton New Orleans hotels. Individual rate is $13 one way, $25 roundtrip. Tickets purchased online through the AMD website will have a $2 discount off the roundtrip rate. For more information, please call 888/432-7651.

Taxi InfoFor taxi riders, there’s a $2.50 drop charge plus $1 for each additional passenger. The airport flat rate is $28 for up to two people and $10 for each additional passenger, not to exceed five people. Questions or concerns, please contact the Taxicab Bureau at 504/565-6272.

Rental CarReservations may be placed online at www.hertz.com or through the Hertz Meeting Sales Desk
within the U.S. at 800/654-2240. Please reference Meeting Number CV02XS0004.

Dress Code and ClimateThe attire for the convention is business casual except on Monday evening. Attire for the Final Night Party, “An Evening with the Blues Brothers,” is your finest Blues Brothers look-a-like outfit. New Orleans has a subtropical climate with pleasant year-round temperatures. The average daily temperature in New Orleans for the month of October is a high of 79° and a low of 59°.

Convention Hospitality ServicesConvention Hospitality Services will be on site with a Tourist Information Specialist to assist in making restaurant reservations and answering any questions about New Orleans and the surrounding area. Planning your itinerary has never been easier. Look for this service at the New Orleans Marriott October 7-9 and in the AMD exhibit hall on October 8-9.

Shuttle Bus TransportationAMD will be providing shuttle service from the New Orleans Marriott/Sheraton New Orleans headquarter hotels to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Shuttles will be running continuously during advertised exhibit
hall set-up times and during exhibit hall show hours. All shuttles will depart from the New Orleans Marriott Hotel.
For those who wish to walk to the convention center, the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is less than a mile from the AMD headquarter hotels.

AMD Distributor Member Courtesy DayAMD distributor members are invited to attend the AMD Exhibit Hall in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center at no charge on Monday, October 10, 2005, from 10:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. AMD says this is a great opportunity for distributor members and their personnel to create new contacts with our associate members. If you are interested in attending the exhibit hall on this day, you can register online at www.amdweb.com. (Click on the convention registration link.) You must have a badge to enter the exhibit hall. Distributors must also show a photo I.D. and business card when picking up exhibit hall badges at the AMD registration desk, located at the New Orleans Marriott Hotel.

AMD OPENS THE EXHIBIT HALLThe AMD 42nd Annual Convention welcomes all companies who are, or may be in the future, customers of the AMD membership. The Exhibit Hall in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center will be opened Monday, October 10th for a fee of $75 to the following: architects, designers, homebuilders, contractors and lumber dealers.
Online or on-site registration is available. Photo I.D. and business card are required to pick up registration materials. The registration fee includes admittance to the exhibit hall and lunch.

OPTIONAL EVENTS: FUN STUFF TO DOSouthern Opulence: Oak Alley Plantation & Laura Plantation
Friday, October 7th
9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
$68 per person
Experience a bygone era in the South’s most beautiful setting. Oak Alley begins with its spectacular trees. A quarter-mile alley of 28 sheltering oaks more than 250 years old still greets guests today. A luncheon under the Oaks will provide you with a taste of the Old South—a bountiful Creole buffet! Just three miles from Oak Alley is Laura Plantation. Laura is one of the last surviving Creole plantations.
Surrounded by fields of sugarcane, Laura with her dramatic, tragic and heroic stories will allow you to feel how Creole life was actually lived in Louisiana for two centuries.

See the City Then We’re Off and Rumming!Friday, October 7th
1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
$30 per person
Explore New Orleans! Ride past Jackson Square as your tour guide reconstructs the first days of the old French City. Continue past the French Market and the U.S. Mint. On Esplanade Avenue, you will see a stunning display of Creole homes with delicate wrought-iron fences and balconies. Pausing at one of the city’s oldest cemeteries, learn about the city’s unique aboveground burial system. Across Bayou St. John is City Park with its lush greenery and scenic lagoons. Located on the park’s grounds is New Orleans Museum of Art set among overhanging Live Oak trees and Spanish moss. Following the crescent of the river the old town of Carrollton and the route of the St. Charles streetcar, pass Tulane and Loyola Universities as the ancient oaks of Audubon Park come into view. The heart of Uptown showcases some of the city’s most lovely neighborhoods, while the Garden District is distinguished by its Greek revival architecture and splendid gardens. The tour will proceed with a treat for all who visit New Orleans.
Then we’re off and Rumming ... Rum tasting that is. Yes, in the South you can visit America’s oldest premium rum distillery. Sugarcane has been a staple of Louisiana’s economy since 1751. Hear about how fermenting and distilling Louisiana Blackstrap molasses and sugarcane create Amber and Crystal rums. Learn how these distinctive flavors and deep natural colors are derived without the use of additives or coloring.

French Quarter Evening TourSunday, October 9th
6:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
$55 per person
The best way to see the French Quarter is on foot. Your guide will lead you through the heart of the city, letting you in on its secrets and history along the way ... then, for dinner you are off to the New Orleans School of Cooking where you’ll get to cook up your own Creole creation, using all local, fresh ingredients with the guidance of one of the city’s most well-known chefs.

Magazine Street Shopping with Lunch at Café RaniMonday, October 10th
11:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
$44 per person
Magazine Street is a shopper’s dream! If you love jewelry, clothing and antiques then a stroll along Magazine Street is a must! This eclectic avenue is lined with appealing specialty shops, fabulous boutiques, century-old warehouses selling house wares, pottery, country and period furniture, chandeliers, clothing, books, fine papers, linens, glass, silly toys, china,
soaps and incense, antiques from the late 1800s, art, food, vintage clothing and jewelry. You can even visit a bead shop and create your own jewelry! Everyone finds something of interest along the six-mile stretch between the moss-laden oaks of Audubon Park and Zoological Gardens and world famous Canal Street. After a day of shopping, relax and have lunch at Café
Rani.

The Art of Glass BlowingMonday, October 10th
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
$75 per person
Visit a full-service hot shop that has facilities for glassblowing, fusing, stained glass, lampworking, sandblasting and more. Members of this glass-blowing team have taught intensive glass workshops around the country and abroad since 1996. On a typical day, you can watch a glass artist twirl a colorful glass orb attached to a pole, moving it from a white-hot glory hole to a metal worktable, where another artist attaches a stem of molten glass. Whether you are looking to start from scratch, or simply hone a few skills, this glass-blowing class will bring out your creative side.

Additional Tour InformationSpace is limited on each tour. Please sign up early to secure your reservation.
Please fill out the tour registration form in the AMD’s Convention brochure on page 19, and send with payment information directly to Hotard Destination Services. You may also register online at www.amdweb.com (click on the optional tours form link).

Convention at a GlanceThe AMD Registration Desk will be located at the New Orleans Marriott Hotel.
The AMD Exhibit Hall will be located at the Ernest Morial Convention Center.

A Dictionary of Delectable Tidbits
New Orleans has quite a variety of unique food, and many who visit are faced with these delicacies for the first time. Here’s a dictionary of terms to help you with the food available in New Orleans and places you can find them. You’ll definitely want to try one or all.
Alligator Pear: Avocado, named for the skin’s green, scaly texture.
Andouille (ahn-DOO-ee): Spicy Cajun sausage. Don’t ask what’s in it. Just savor the burn.
Bananas Foster: Brennan’s first whipped up this flaming ambrosia of bananas and rum, spooned over vanilla ice cream.
Beignet (BEN-yay): Oh, yay! Creole pastries carrés (square, like the Vieux Carré), fried to crusty perfection and generously sprinkled with powdered sugar. Got café au lait?
Blackened Redfish: Highly seasoned redfish filets sizzled in a hot skillet. When Chef Paul Prudhomme made the Cajun dish a national craze, it put a strain on redfish supplies. Inspired chefs began blackening poultry and veal.
Blue Runner: Gumbo to go. Canned okra and shrimp gumbo or gumbo base, beans and other canned produce to take home. No muss.
Boudin (boo-DEHN): Spicy pork sausage stuffed with onions and herbs.
Chicory (CHICK-er-ree): Endive roots are roasted and ground into Louisiana java labels like Community, French Market, Union and Luzianne. It’s coffee with a little bite that’ll take the bark out of your morning.
Courtbouillon (COO-boo-yawn): Cajun for “short soup,” it is fish simmered in spicy tomato sauce.
Crawfish (a.k.a. mudbugs or crawdads): Cooked with lots of crab boil, these succulent little second cousins to shrimp hold the flavor in the heads and the meat in the tails.
Etouffée (ay-too-FAY): It literally means “suffocated,” but in New Orleans, they just smother great shrimp or crawfish with spicy tomato sauce and slather it over rice. Very nice.
Gumbo: New Orleans’ and South Louisiana’s signature Creole dish. Not an imitation of French bouillabaisse.
Jambalaya (jahm-ba-LIE-ya): New Orleans’ answer to Spain’s paella, this Cajun rice dish makes a clean sweep of the kitchen, full of sausage, seafood and, of course, spices.
Mirliton (MER -lih-tawn or MIL-lih-ton): A tropical, pear-shaped squash. Louisianans love to stuff them with seafood, meats and cheese.
Muffuletta: It’s not a sandwich; it’s a meal packed into a pizza-sized Italian bun. The calories don’t count when you’re having fun: salami, ham and provolone lavished with olive relish. Go to the source: Central Grocery on Decatur Street.
Oysters: Eating them raw on the half-shell still separates the natives from the tourists, the sushi craze notwithstanding.
Po-boy: New Orleans’ own sandwich, more hero than sub, and more epic than anything ever slapped on Bunny bread. You can find this sandwich at: Liuzza’s, Mother’s, Uglesich’s, Parasol’s and Domilise’s.
Pompano En Papillote (POM-puh-no on pahpee-YOTE): Bagged fish. In this classic French dish, filets swimming in a rich sauce are steamed and served in a paper bag.
Red beans and rice: Comfort food for natives, this traditional Monday fare is served over rice, accompanied by French bread. Why Monday? Washday. The fires were already blazing for wash kettles, and the red kidney beans simmered all day in ham hocks and sausage, so they didn’t have to be closely watched.
Sauce Piquante (pee-CAHNT): As with étouffee, this stew-like dish is based on a tomato sauce, but instead of seafood, the meat is turtle, rabbit or even alligator.
Tasso: Peppered beef or pork smoked within an inch of life. Chopped into bite-sized bits, it braces up gumbo, red beans and anything else that simmers slowly.

Editor’s Note: This dictionary of terms is courtesy of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau.